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WINSTON-SALEM — James Johnson scored seven of the Deacons' first nine points and helped Wake Forest to a 23-point first-half lead in an 87-69 win over Georgia Tech Wednesday night at the Joel Coliseum.

Johnson had a dunk off the opening tip as Wake established their tempo early in the game.

"It started off with the tip," Deacons coach Dino Gaudio said of Johnson. "He was really energized. He didn't play well in Atlanta. Down the stretch, he missed some buckets and it bothered him. He wanted to play well against these guys, and he really stepped up and got us off to a great start, as he did against Florida State."

Johnson, who scored 13 in the earlier loss to the Yellow Jackets, finished with a game-high 24 points. He added 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.

And while Wake (20-4, 7-4) game out running, Georgia Tech could not make a shot. The Yellow Jackets did not hit their first field goal until 15:55 and quickly found themselves down, 27-8, as the Deacons hit a mixture of dunks and 3-pointers to build the early lead.

Ishmael Smith played a big role in extending Wake's early lead. He had six points and five assists in the first half, becoming the seventh Wake Forest player to reach the 400-assist mark.

"I thought when they stretched it out he got them up to that 19-22-point lead," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said of Smith. "I give him a lot of credit for really igniting the break and getting easy baskets for them.

"It's one of the things you can't do with Wake Forest, you can't allow them to get a bunch of dunks and layups. You've got to really force them to beat you from outside the paint, and we didn't do that in the first half at all."

But after the Deacons extended to a 48-25 lead, the Yellow Jackets finished the half on a strong note, ending with a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to 11 points at halftime.

"When they were making their little run," said Gaudio, "it was transition defense for us. We weren't getting back as well as we needed to and they were getting open looks."

Lewis Clinch sparked the rally for Georgia Tech, hitting two of the Yellow Jackets' four 3-pointers in the run.

Gaudio was unhappy with Wake's play in the final 4 minutes of the first half, and he let the team know about it at halftime.

"We gave up a little too many threes in the first half," Gaudio said. "We did a good job in the second half, holding them to 2-for-9. We weren't pressuring the ball enough in the first half. We made the adjustment at halftime and it worked out well for us."

While Gaudio was pleased with his team's effort after intermission, Georgia Tech (10-15, 1-11) did cut the lead to five points, thanks to a 9-0 run with five points by Clinch.

But the Deacons would not let them get any closer.

Wake clamped down on the defensive end and held Georgia Tech to one shot or a turnover.

The Deacons finished the game on a 26-13 run.

"We had two really bad turnovers," said Hewitt of how their final run ended. "We had a couple of one-handed catches that went out of bounds. We had one mismatch under the basket. We had Lewis (Clinch) wide open from three.

"When you get down the way we did, you can't have those mistakes at all. They are a very explosive team offensively. They capitalize on those turnovers, got easy baskets and got away from us again."

Clinch finished with 24 points, including six 3-point baskets, to lead the Yellow Jackets.

For Wake, it was the school's 20th 20-win season and the 1,400th win overall for the program. It also marked Gaudio's first win over Georgia Tech.

"I told them in the two years we've been here we haven't beaten these guys," Gaudio said to his team before the game. "We're 0-for-Atlanta."

GEORGIA TECH (10-15, 1-11)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Lawal 29 6-11 1-2 4-8 0 3 13

Peacock 18 2-3 2-2 2-3 1 3 6

Clinch 37 9-22 0-0 2-6 5 2 24

Shumpert 31 4-9 3-4 0-3 4 3 14

Foreman 22 0-4 0-0 1-2 0 2 0

Miller 10 0-1 0-0 0-0 3 4 0

Storrs 19 1-5 0-0 0-0 1 4 3

Craig 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Sheehan 8 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0

Aminu 23 4-9 1-2 3-9 0 2 9

Totals 200 26-64 7-10 13-33 14 23 69

Percentages: FG .406, FT .700. 3-point goals: 10-23, .435 (Clinch 6-13, Shumpert 3-4, Storrs 1-4, Miller 0-1, Foreman 0-1). Team rebounds: 0. Blocked shots: 2 (Lawal, Aminu). Turnovers: 20 (Clinch 6, Aminu 3, Miller 3, Shumpert 3, Craig 2, Lawal 2, Foreman). Steals: 12 (Shumpert 3, Foreman 3, Peacock 2, Craig, Clinch, Aminu, Lawal). Technical fouls: Shumpert.

WAKE FOREST (20-4, 7-4)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Aminu 29 4-9 6-9 1-6 2 1 14

Johnson 29 10-12 3-6 2-11 1 3 24

McFarland 18 1-2 3-4 1-2 0 2 5

Teague 25 5-8 3-4 0-1 3 2 15

Williams 28 2-4 2-2 0-3 0 3 6

Clark 15 3-5 0-0 0-0 1 1 9

Hale 4 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 0 0

Smith 24 5-9 0-0 1-4 8 0 11

Lepore 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

McQuilkin 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Walker 3 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Weaver 7 0-1 1-2 1-1 0 0 1

Hoekstra 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Woods 15 1-1 0-0 2-5 0 0 2

Totals 200 31-54 18-27 9-36 15 12 87

Percentages: FG .574, FT .667. 3-point goals: 7-16, .438 (Clark 3-5, Teague 2-3, Johnson 1-2, Smith 1-2, Aminu 0-1, McFarland 0-1, Hale 0-1, Williams 0-1). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 2 (Woods, Williams). Turnovers: 22 (Teague 5, Johnson 5, Smith 2, Weaver 2, Williams 2, Lepore, Hale, Aminu, Walker, Woods). Steals: 12 (Teague 4, Johnson 2, Smith 2, Clark, McFarland, Hale, Williams).

Technical fouls: None.

Georgia Tech 39 30 — 69

Wake Forest 50 37 — 87

A—12,809.

Officials—Gary Maxwell, Sean Hull, J.D. Collins.